Steelers' JuJu Smith-Schuster donates Thanksgiving meals to seniors

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster fondly remembers Thanksgiving dinners growing up.

“The older people would always be served first,” said Smith-Schuster on Tuesday.

He’s making the sure the seniors are taken care of this year, especially when they might not be able to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and aren’t able to be with loved ones.

Through his JuJu Foundation he is teaming with Dive Bar & Grille, which has multiple Western Pennsylvania locations, ACORx Pharmacy, and Ten Four Social, a Pittsburgh-based social media marketing agency, to provide 350 home cooked Thanksgiving meals to the elderly. He wants to help people who are unable to attend their family gatherings amid the covid-19 pandemic.

“I love the elderly, and I want to give back,” he said. “I want them to have Thanksgiving. I am grateful to them and the city of Pittsburgh because they have always have my back. This city gives me love.”

Smith-Schuster said he can’t be there to deliver the meals because the Steelers host rival Baltimore Ravens at 8:20 p.m. at Heinz Field on ABC. But he made sure seniors will be served.

“Thanksgiving has always meant family at the table for me,” said Smith-Schuster, who said he was seated at the kid’s table even when he was in high school. “It’s about sitting down and talking about the memories of the past and the future.”

He recalled breaking the wishbone with his sister. Whoever won got to choose which piece of turkey they wanted first. Traditions are what Thanksgiving is all about, Smith-Schuster said.

Even if the traditions might look different, there can still be a good meal, especially for seniors, said Shawn Nairn, owner of ACORx Pharmacy based in Carnegie. His company will deliver the meals.

He said they selected recipients based on the neediest population, from seniors who will be home alone to couples who might not be going to family members’ houses this year and those who physically can’t leave their homes.

Some of the areas are South Side, Homewood, Garfield and Oakland.

“We deliver to these people every day, so we know them and they know our drivers,” Nairn said. “We are happy to do it.”

Thank you so much to everyone for the birthday wishes today, really means a lot to get so much love from all of the fans and Steelers Nation each year. First time in 6 years that I've played on my birthday! I hope we can make it a special one, #HereWeGo pic.twitter.com/cNR7XEABzV

— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) November 22, 2020

Smith-Schuster, who was limited in practice Tuesday with a toe injury, said his favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal is dessert — peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream. The individual meals won’t have that dessert but will have a piece of pumpkin pie, along with turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, mixed vegetables, salad and a roll prepared by Dive Bar. Co-owner Clint Kuskie said Ten Four Social reached out to him about 10 days ago.

He didn’t want to commit until he asked his staff.

“I didn’t want to make people work on Thanksgiving, but as soon as I sent out the email I got so many positive responses,” said Kuskie, who plans to roast turkey breasts.

Each meal will be packed so it can be reheated. He said he and his team will do some prep work on Wednesday and finish everything Thursday morning.

Delivery is expected between 11 a.m. and noon Thursday.

“We will do this as contactless as possible,” Kuskie said. “We are serving the elderly and keeping them safety is our utmost concern. We are happy to be able to do something like this.”

A complement to this year’s meal is hopefully a Steelers victory – for an 11-0 record.

“That would be a perfect end to the perfect Thanksgiving meal,” he said. “Cherish your moments this Thanksgiving even if you can’t be together like you are used to. Embrace life and live life to the fullest and know that everyone around you loves you even if it’s from far away this year.”